Relay for Life scheduled for Saturday

Published 8:00 pm, Thursday, June 24, 2010

BAD AXE — The American Cancer Society reports that one out of every two men, and one out of every three women, will face a cancer diagnosis in his or her lifetime.

To fight back against the disease that never sleeps, the ACS sponsors the world’s largest grassroots fundraising movement to fulfill its vision of creating “a world with less cancer and more birthdays.”

The movement — Relay For Life — began in 1985 in Tacoma, Wash.

One man walked and ran around a track for 24 hours and raised $27,000 for the ACS. Now, Relay will take place in nearly 5,100 communities in the U.S. and 20 other countries, and will draw more than 3.5 million people out to participate.

More than 20 teams comprised of nearly 400 people from Huron County and surrounding areas are expected to participate at this year’s Relay event.

Relay is a 24-hour affair scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. Saturday to 10 a.m. Sunday at Bad Axe City Park, located on Hanselman Street.

This year is the 14th annual Relay celebration in Bad Axe.

Teams of people will camp out at the park and members will take turns walking or running around the designated path. Teams are required to have at least one representative on the track at all times throughout the 24-hour event.

Since it’s a fundraiser, teams often bring activities, or food and refreshments for participants to buy to help raise more money.

“They do that to make it a fun atmosphere for people to come and see different events,” said Karen Holz, the Relay For Life of Huron County promotional chairperson, who has been involved with Relay since 1997.

Schedule of events

At 1 p.m., the empowering Fight Back Ceremony is scheduled so people can voice their commitment to take action against cancer.

“It’s your way of saying one little thing you’re going to do … to make it better so that you don’t get cancer or help someone else,” Holz said.

Participants in the past have pledged to quit smoking, women pledge to schedule regular mammograms, and men pledge to check their prostate, Holz said.

Participating cancer survivors are given survivor shirts and commemorative pins to wear as they lead the Victory Lap, an opportunity to celebrate cancer survivorship, to take place at 5 p.m.

“It’s a very emotional time to be there to see all the people who have survived who are able to make that walk through one more time,” she said. “(Survivors) also have a medallion. Once they’re given that, then each year we give them a year pin they can attach to that to keep counting their years of survivorship.”

At 9 p.m. in the evening, small candlelit bags called Luminaria will be placed to line the track Relay participants traverse throughout the night. The Luminaria bags are decorated prior to the ceremony with the names of people who have faced cancer by the individuals who purchased them.

If you would like to make a donation for a Luminaria in honor or in memory of someone touched by cancer, call Karen Holz at (989) 269-7493.

For more information about the Relay For Life of Huron County or to get involved as a Relay For Life volunteer, contact event chairperson Kelly Adams at (989) 315-1240, or visit www.relayforlife.org.